10.7m tax payers filed before the deadline06/02/2018

HMRC has issued a press release detailing the number of online filings made for the 2016-17 self assessment returns. The use of the online service continues to grow year on year. In this year a total of over 9.9 million online filings were made by the 31 January 2018 deadline. A further 770,000 tax returns were submitted using paper returns. This means that 93.5% of returns (10.7 million filings) were submitted on time (be it the paper or online deadline).

The highest numbers of returns were made on the last two filing days (30 & 31 January 2018) when almost 1.3 million online filings were made. The busiest hour on deadline day was between 4pm and 5pm, where almost 61,000 returns were received.

Any returns that are filed after the 31 January 2018 deadline will be subject an automatic penalty. A £100 penalty for late submission of the self assessment returns applies even if taxpayers have no tax to pay or have paid any tax due on time. There are further more substantial penalties that can be levied 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after the filing deadline.

HMRC’s Angela MacDonald, Director General for Customer Services said:

'If you’re one of the small number that missed the deadline, please submit your return now to avoid further penalties. We really don’t want penalties, we just want tax returns.'